Creating a compelling vision and mission

- As you go to set the directionfor your high performing team,you'll need to articulate both a visionand a mission for the organization.And I'd like to offer both an explanationof what those are and provide you some techniquesfor crafting them and then sharing them.A vision provides a clear pictureof where you're going as an organization.It articulates what you want to beand I encourage people to look three to five years out.Anything less than three ends up being too tacticaland if you're looking beyond five years,it's pretty hard for people to see that farinto the future and see it as a possibility.

As you articulate this vision statement,it should be something that's ambitious,but realistically possible.And that's a fine balance between the two.You want the ambitious part so the teamhas something to reach for.But if it's not realistic, the team may look at itand say "Well, there's no way we can achieve that.",and they won't get behind it.That vision also needs to be somethingthat's worth doing and can win people's commitment.It needs to resonate on an emotional level.They need to look at that vision and say"I'm really excited if we can achieve that"and I want to be part of reaching that goal."The vision also needs to bedifferentiated from your competitors.

You're trying to carve a space out in the marketplacethat says "Here's why we're better"and here's why we're going to win."And last, that vision needs to be concise.A few critical words and no buzz words.Those long visions that take up an entire pageand you walk away from it saying"I don't really know where we're going."Or ones that are only going to serveto confuse and frustrate the team.So precision of your words is critical here.

Once you've laid out that vision,you also need to lay out a corresponding mission.That mission is a statement that is a cultural reflectionof the values and beliefsand philosophy of the organization.It tells people this is why we exist.You're also going to, in that mission,articulate how your organization creates valuefor your customers or for the broader organization.The mission needs to be clear, brief, and understandableby all employees at all levels of your organization.

It should also be clear enough that outsiderscan come in, hear your mission, and understand"I know how this team contributes to the broader whole."You have to clearly specifywhat business the organization is in.And even if you run an internal teamthat serves only internal customers,you should still be able to articulate"This is how my team creates value."And that mission needs to be wordedso it can serve as a rallying pointfor the people in your organization.

And then they know how they're goingto contribute to the broader whole.Now crafting a vision and missionsounds like it might be really difficult.But it can be quite easy with some very simple techniques.So get the relevant stakeholders in a room,find some time where they're going to be able to open upand not feel the pressures of the daily operations.And then find some whiteboards and some flip chartsand tee up some questions.And your task as a facilitator is to simply captureall those thoughts and prompt them on thingsthat are going to contribute to the articulationof that vision and that mission.

So, for example, you can ask people"What value do our customers get from interacting with us?"What differentiates us from our competitors?"What do we aspire to be three to five years from now?"And then the important thing is let them talkand do your best to capture everything that's saidup on that whiteboard or that flip chart.Right now, you're just in input mode.Once you've gotten through some of these questionsand you feel the energy is out of the roomand people have contributed all their thoughts,put them on a break and then take a lookat that whiteboard and look for terms and conceptsthat are repeated multiple times.

Those common threads are the oneswhere the heart of your vision and mission are.Take those common terms and write themon a blanks sheet of paper and let everyonetake a look at them and figure outhow can we turn those termsinto a clear and simple statement?And write that draft vision statement outor that draft mission.Turn it into something that people can react to.So once you're done doing so and you have your vision,take a step back and ask people"For this vision, is this something"we can achieve in five years?"Do we reasonably believe that if we turn our teams loose,"that we would be excited to achieve this vision?"And if we got there, would the team feel like"we've accomplished something great?"When you look at the mission, ask"Does this mission truly describe why we exist"and what we're passionate about?"Does it explain how we as a team create value for our"customers, both internal and external customers?"And last, "Can people make decisions and take action"if they understand why we exist?"So, if they don't have guidanceand the only thing they have is "Here's your mission.",can they choose accurately between alternativesand fulfill the team's greater purpose?So articulating that vision and mission isn't difficult,you just have to bring the right players to the room,prompt them with the right set of questions,document all their thoughts and ideas,find the common threads,and then craft it into something that's clear,simple to understand, and compelling.

Because this is ultimately how you're goingto set the direction for your team.

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Released

8/31/2014

High-performing teams are critical to maintaining an organization's competitive advantage. These teams consistently show high levels of collaboration and innovation, and outperform their peers. In this course, author and leadership-training expert Mike Figliuolo shows you how to create and lead the teams that get more done for their organizations. Learn about the seven elements of a high-performance team, and the techniques necessary to set direction, gather and deploy the right resources, prioritize work, motivate employees, and help team members develop their individual strengths.

Lynda.com is a PMI Registered Education Provider. This course qualifies for professional development units (PDUs). To view the activity and PDU details for this course, click here.The PMI Registered Education Provider logo is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

Topics include:

Creating a compelling vision and mission for your team

Understanding the resources your team needs to succeed

Recruiting the right people

Balancing workload

Setting goals

Empowering people

Resolving conflict

Building bench strength and succession plans<br><br>

The PMI Registered Education Provider logo is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.